Homeward Bound
by r2roswell
Summary: "Emma and co. return to Storybrooke on the Jolly Roger."
1. Author's Note

**Author's Note:**

_This story was written on behalf of Schmacky on tumblr. The idea belongs to this person, I merely put it together in story form._


	2. Leaving New York

**Chapter 1: Leaving New York**

* * *

"Are you sure you can pilot this thing," Emma asked skeptical as she helped Neal load Gold onto the Jolly Roger.

"What don't you trust me?" Neal asked.

Emma looked at him, "That's a rhetorical question right?"

Henry was ahead of them, thrilled to be on the ship. He was finally getting the real adventure he had always wanted. It was one thing to go on a quest with his mom to New York to find Gold's son but a whole different adventure to take a pirate ship home instead of flying out.

"Let's get him below decks," said Neal.

"You sound like you know this ship."

Neal shrugged, "Don't all ships have a lower deck?"

"I guess," Emma said as they went below and placed Gold gently down on the bench inside. "But you seem particularly fond of this one."

"Well like I told you before this wasn't the first place I came to."

"So I'm guessing what, Neverland," Emma said with the same joking humor as she had once before. "You know I was joking right, even back then?"

Neal smiled, "It was never a joke for me."

"Of course it wasn't."

Neal continued to smile. "Alright I'm gonna head up top. Next stop: Storybrooke."

* * *

Neal made his way outside while Emma stayed and looked for a towel to help Gold. She found a few rags and placed one on Gold's chest, gently dabbing at his wound. It looked a lot worse than it had before. The redness looked almost purple as if it had bruised. The yellow poison was seeping as well as white puss. Gold winced at the pain.

"What was that all about," he asked.

Emma shook her head, "It was nothing."

"Like hell it wasn't."

"Do you always have to pry?" she asked as she dabbed another rag, running this one along his forehead to wipe away the sweat.

"Just trying to figure out the relationship you had with my son. By the way you two talk around each other, you're in love."

"Please I am not in love with Neal. He has a fiancé."

"That doesn't matter," Gold replied, "Just look at your parents: before the curse broke Katherine was by all intent your step-mother and yet Mary Margaret and David still managed to have an affair because they belonged together."

"You're delirious," said Emma, "And we're not my parents."

"Maybe not but it doesn't change the fact that I know true love when I see it."

Emma stopped for a moment trying not to let Gold's words sink in but she couldn't deny that some of them were. She dabbed his head once more.

"Try to get some rest. We'll be home soon. Call me if you need me."

Gold took Emma's hand, "I'll be fine. You go be with your family."

Emma looked at Gold once more before making her way to the deck.


	3. Sailing Home

**Chapter 2: Sailing Home**

* * *

With the ropes free from the dock and the sails outward Neal stood at the helm of the ship. The day was overcast and despite the ship being cloaked the fog certainly did help somewhat. It wasn't the first time Neal had sailed when visibility was low so even if there were other boats in the area or obstacles he would know it.

"How's Mr. Gold," Henry asked coming up to his mom when she arrived on deck.

Emma placed a hand on Henry's shoulder. The boy didn't resist or pull back. "He's worse Henry but he's trying to hang in there."

"He can't die," Henry said.

"That's not gonna happen," said Emma. "We'll make it to Storybrooke. Mr. Gold will be fine."

"How do you know?"

"I have faith," she said smiling at him.

"Then I will too," Henry answered.

* * *

"Hey Henry," said Neal. "Get up here. Want to learn how to pilot a ship?"

Henry turned and ran up to Neal. "Really," he said with excitement.

"Yeah why not you're old enough right?"

"You bet I am. Grandpa David is all ready training me to be a knight."

"Then you're more than capable of learning how to sail."

"How old were you when you learned?"

"Um, fifteen I think."

"I'm eleven."

"I know but trust me it's easy."

Neal turned back to look at and smiled. She smiled in return though she couldn't help but be a little bothered that Henry still wanted to spend more time with Neal than with her. She wondered how long it would last. She hoped it wasn't much longer, she missed her son, she missed the way things had been before they got complicated.

* * *

After about a couple hours of sailing Emma had gone down a few times to check on Gold. He seemed the same as he had been when they first boarded and there really wasn't much she could do other than try to make him comfortable.

When she arrived back on deck Emma pulled out her cell. She hoped that despite being on a cloaked ship that she at least able to get some kind of reception which she did.

"Hey," Emma said having to speak up due to the wind.

"Hey," Mary Margaret replied. "Where are you guys, what's that noise?"

"Just the wind," Emma replied. "We stole Hook's ship so we're somewhere near Providence and Boston. We should be in Storybrooke in another couple hours or so."

"How's Gold?"

"He's hanging in there." Emma placed her hand on the receiver and turned to Neal, "Any way to make this thing go faster," she said having to somewhat shout.

Neal replied, "This may be the fastest ship in all the realms but it applies to the ocean graphics here so we can't really go any faster than we all ready are."

"Great," Emma said with distain.

"Who was that," Mary Margaret asked.

Emma shook her head even though Mary Margaret couldn't see the action, "You'll meet him later. Just figured I'd call to let you guys know."

"I'm glad you did. We'll meet you at the docks when you arrive. We'll see you soon."

Emma hung up the phone and took her spot at the back of the ship watching as her son continued to help Neal pilot the Jolly Roger.


	4. We're Family

**Chapter 3: We're Family**

* * *

"Is that it," Neal asked as they spotted land.

Emma walked up to Neal and Henry. In the distance the town of Storybrooke could be seen but the clock tower looked different, damaged.

"That's our home," said Emma.

Henry looked up at his mom, "What happened to the clock?"

"I'm not sure kid," Emma said to him.

"I'm curious about that too," said Neal. "It doesn't look like it did in the postcard."

Emma looked up at Neal, "What postcard?" Neal didn't say anything. "Neal, what postcard?" she asked trying to get an answer.

Neal bit his lip, "Guess I should've mentioned that till some other time."

"Well are you going to tell me?" Emma asked.

Neal smiled, "Some other time."

Emma took a deep breath knowing she wouldn't get a straight answer from him. That only made her frustrated but only for a moment. They had plenty of time to deal with things once their lives stopped being complicated.

The closer they got to the doc they could see David and Mary Margaret waiting for them.

"Who's the welcome party," Neal asked as he navigated the ship into a boat space.

Emma got off the ship and began tying the ropes to the dock.

"My parents," she replied to Neal as she saw from her peripheral vision that David and Mary Margaret were making their way toward them.

* * *

"Welcome back," Mary Margaret said being the first to embrace her daughter.

Emma held onto her mother tighter than she had intended. It had been a stressful few days so she was grateful to be surrounded by her family. David placed a hand on Emma's back and she welcomed the touch and small back rub.

By their actions they had clearly missed her as much as she had missed them.

The three pulled away from each other but Mary Margaret let her hand linger on Emma's arm.

"How're you holding up?"

Emma sighed in defeat. She wanted to tell her parents all that had happened, confide in them but there wasn't time.

Mary Margaret gave Emma a comforting smile, "Guess we have a lot to talk about don't we?"

"Can we maybe talk later?"

Mary Margaret nodded.

Before anything else could be said, Henry came down from the ship followed closely by Neal.

Mary Margaret and David watched Neal cautiously but their demeanor changed when Henry came up and hugged them both individually.

"Did you have a fun ride over kid," David asked as he placed a hand on Henry's shoulder.

"It was awesome," the boy replied. "Neal taught me how to sail."

David smiled, "So now it's between becoming a knight and a pirate?"

"Can't I do both," Henry asked.

Emma slightly hesitated, "Let's talk about that when you're older Henry."

Neal placed his hands in his pockets. "Well I think as long as he doesn't grow up like us she should be okay."

Emma shot Neal a look.

"What," Neal asked. "I just meant being a thief for a living."

"I know what you meant," said Emma.

"I'm pretty sure he's all ready got that one covered," said Mary Margaret.

Emma could only nod at her statement which was in reference to Henry having stolen her credit card to go find her nearly a year ago.

Henry looked up at Emma, "You didn't tell me you were a thief too."

Emma placed a hand on her forehead. 'Great,' she thought. 'Another thing to bring up.'

Henry had known Emma had a difficult past but he didn't know the details. She knew she would have to tell him eventually but she hadn't realized, like a lot of things that it would be this soon but he was a smart kid and quickly picking up on a lot of things.

"Can we discuss all of this at a different time," Emma asked. She didn't wait for a response. "Real quick," she said, "Neal these are my parents David and Mary Margaret. Guys, this is Neal Cassidy, my ex and Henry's father."

"Ex," Neal asked unsure on the way that sounded.

"Well what else am I supposed to call you?" Emma asked him.

"I don't know," Neal replied, "But considering things, we're more than just exes aren't we?"

Emma rolled her eyes. She didn't have time for this and more importantly she didn't want to get into the specifics on what they were or weren't to each other especially when you added in the complication of him being engaged, if that was even real considering how awkward that had been.

Emma returned her attention to her parents.

"So did you get the dagger," she asked them.

"No," David replied, "Cora and Regina beat us to it."

Mary Margaret crossed her arms. "No, they didn't. It was my screw up."

"We'll get it back," David said trying to reassure his wife.

"How," Mary Margaret asked. "With their combined powers what if Cora uses the dagger before hand?"

"We won't let it come to that," said David. "We'll find a way. We always do."

Mary Margaret wasn't going to argue with him. Not here. Not now.

Neal spoke up, "And what about-."

All he could do was point to the ship. He didn't know what to call him: Rumpelstiltskin, Mr. Gold, Papa, Father. Though he had called him 'papa' before when he had discovered the blood on the man's chest, Neal was still having a difficult time deciding on what term was best.

"He's pretty weak," said Neal.

David took a step toward the ship, "I'll give you a hand," he said to Neal.

The two men made their way up the steps and into the ship. Emma, Mary Margaret, and Henry began walking toward where David had his truck parked.

* * *

"Can I ride up front with David and Mary Margaret," Henry asked.

Emma could see the excitement on Henry's face. He was no doubt ready to start talking their ears off about his adventures but Emma, having seen the look on her mother's face when the dagger was brought up, wasn't sure that Henry's ramblings might be such a good idea right now.

Emma looked at Mary Margaret who smiled and nodded. She returned the smile and quickly changed her position thinking that their grandson's stories might be exactly what they needed to ease the tension.

She smiled at her son, "Sure kid," she said to him, "I'll ride in back with your dad and Grandpa Gold."

Henry smiled and opened David's side of the truck making his way to occupy the middle seat.

Mary Margaret opened her side of the door and left it open to allow in the fresh air so Henry wouldn't overheat in the few minutes he was in there.

Mary Margaret then looked at her daughter for a moment before taking a step toward her. She then wrapped her arms around Emma. She didn't care that close behind David, Neal, and Gold were coming toward them. For a moment Mary Margaret allowed herself to close her eyes.

Emma didn't mind being in her mother's arms but this embrace was different than the one before. Emma could sense the fear and the need Mary Margaret had to be close to her child. It was a similar feeling to one Emma had herself a while back when she thought Henry was dead.

The two women could hear as the men placed Gold in the flatbed.

The two of them pulled back. Emma searched her mother's eyes and could see a sadness that hadn't been there before.

"Are you okay," Emma asked.

Mary Margaret put on a smile. "I'm fine," she said trying to assure her daughter even though she knew Emma wasn't buying it.

Emma wanted to tell Mary Margaret that she knew she wasn't fine but Mary Margaret only smiled and then got in the cab with Henry, closing the door.

David looked at Emma sadly confirming what Emma had thought. Her mother wasn't fine and it went beyond Cora and Regina getting the dagger. Something else had happened, something to shatter her mother's heart.

Emma walked around to where David was standing near his side of the car. He took a deep breath and casually placed his arm over Emma's shoulders. She didn't reject him, somehow knowing he needed to draw some kind of strength from her or simply to have the physical proof that she was there.

He then did the unexpected and placed a kiss on top of her head. Emma wasn't sure how to respond since he had never done that to her before, not as an adult anyways.

"I'm glad you guys are home," he said to her.

This time Emma smiled, "Me too," she responded.

David took his seat behind the wheel as Emma got in the flatbed with Gold and Neal.

Gold's head was resting on Neal's lap and by the looks of things it was making Neal uncomfortable so Emma offered to take over. Neal gladly welcomed it.

The family of six made their way from the docks and headed to town where an undetermined fate awaited them all.

* * *

**~END~**


End file.
